No team in the top flight makes the mistake of underestimating this welsh side now they have started delivering results under the guidance of head coach Melissa Hyndman. The Hertfordshire outfit tried to put their stamp on the game early in the first quarter and as they pulled ahead it looked like there was going to be a rather one-sided affair. Maverick’s speed of ball was niftily converted but by the quarter whistle Dragons had rallied to make the difference seven goals.
The second quarter was scrappy, plenty of ball was turned over, not all of it converted. Mavericks were catching themselves out at times, passes went into space without finding a pair of hands. Dragons were getting back on terms, competing physically with the Hertfordshire side that had 5 England players in action over the evening. Neither side shone in this 15 minutes but was an interesting battle to watch from the stands
A half-time chat from Melissa Hyndman saw Dragons come out revitalised and they were now turning over and converting, a nervous home-crowd watched as goal by goal the Welsh side narrowed the gap to just 2- goals. The side’s homework on the table-toppers had paid off. There was a great battle going on between Kyra Neal and Karen Atkinson on the wings, both were forcing errors from the other. When Louisa Brownfield - who had moved from GS to GA at the start of the second half - needed treatment for a hand injury, and with just 5 minutes 27 on the clock Dragons were leading the quarter 7-3. Mavericks shooter Vicklyn Joseph was getting nothing from the umpires in the circle and at the medical time-out Brownfield went back into GS with Monique Wood returned at GA. It steadied the play but Celtic won the quarter 10-7.
Three goals decided the last quarter in the end but it could have gone either way for a while, neither side was really able to wrest control from the other. After the final whistle there was a real sense of ant- climax from the court and the bench.
Melissa Hyndman, head coach of Celtic Dragon was also frustrated: “ Well they (Mavericks) deserved it. They just got the mental age on us. I think this is the difference,why Wales are the way they are they need to harden up - plain and simple unfortunately. We had that game in the bag - in the bag! But mentally my players are not strong enough full-stop.
“I just think they need to grow up they need to grow up and understand that this is the level that we’re playing at ...we stepped, we held onto the ball for 3 seconds, just silly basic errors that you can't do that at this level.”
Hertfordshire Mavericks head coach Maggie Jackson could hardly bear to watch: “From a coaching point of view, from a players point of view it was a horrible game. It was a very stop to start game. If I was a spectator I would have hated it it was ugly and there was no or very little consistent skill - there just a lot of whistle. Celtic Dragons did their homework on us.”
